So, this year season is officially over for me and I am left with waitlists/ rejections; thus, I am planing on taking a gap year, what would you suggest to improve or to do during that year? Possible activities : AISEC(for sure), organizing debate camps/tournaments around country(for sure at least one), interning at American Councils(as alumna of their program, I will be able to do that) or working as an english teacher/instructor, and continuing European Youth Parliament/MUN , maybe some EDx courses with certificates(not sure if this will help, will do just for myself).
So, my stats
- 1470 sat (690 english).( do you think I should retake?)
- I took two subjects Math 2(720, not really high…) and Chemistry(600…)- will retake both and take World History.
- I can take some AP tests here, do you think i should do that? (Chem & Calculus & English)
- overall GPA for HS is 4.82/5.0 in my country, but I am currently in US at HS(senior), I will probably graduate here with 4.0 GPA.
- My recs were good, but only from teachers, do you think if I get recs from EYP president in my country, ART teacher and from other ECs leaders( AISEC manager and etc) it will boost my app?
- So, my ECs are about art(have a few first place in my country, tutoring experience and did some paid work and art projects) and political stimulations( have national, international distinctions in different conferences, also held leadership positions). Also, I was in national dance team and then in flashmob team(during HS)( it is a huge thing in our country, one of my essays is about it). Other things: won a few language competitions (one of them is on national level), and I did a lot of volunteering, 400+ hours. And I am also FLEX(future leaders exchange program) finalist( scholarship to study in US high school, each year they select 10-12 students from my country for that scholarship) and I speak 5 languages, but it is common among internationals.
Oh, and of course, I am applying for aid, a lot of aid…
I understand you can’t know for sure what will help me, but I hope to get some advise
I am interested in international relations and science&engineering(but I am sure I don’t have strong profiles for these majors). Which colleges would you suggest?
I have plan B: Austria/Germany/Belgium after gap year, just to answer it before someone asks. As for this year, I can go to study in East Europe engineering and then transfer to Germany(this will be relatively easy) or US, but not sure if after that I will be able to get into prestigious graduate school in US.
There isn’t any real reason to take AP tests unless you are currently enrolled in AP classes at your US HS.
The LORs need to come from your teachers, because they discuss your academic ability. You don’t need LORs from anyone else.
“I am applying for aid, a lot of aid.” This means that other than the limited number of institutions that offer significant automatic merit-based aid to international applicants, every place you apply to in the US is a reach. So if you want to study here, but don’t particularly care where, read through this thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2006094-2017-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html and check all of the scholarships listed to find out if international applicants are eligible.
I have noticed a pattern that when students have LORs from ECs, it usually helps.
Thanks for the advice, I will look through that.
“I have noticed a pattern that when students have LORs from ECs, it usually helps.”
Correlation is not causation. What you have observed is that some students who report sending LORs from their ECs have also reported being successful in admission. Until multiple admissions officers personally tell you that an LOR for an EC was solely responsible for moving an application into the Yes pile, please don’t let yourself believe that those extra LORs made a difference. The applicant who is in a position to attract those LORs is most likely a stronger candidate to begin with.
Well, I already have ready recs from those people, so it is not like I am going to ask for one.
I am just wondering which one will have most weight.
Which of women colleges would you suggest?
I have studied in class of only girls till high school and really enjoyed it, but wanted different experience at college, so didn’t apply to any. Now, I consider appling to a few next year.
Why don’t you just apply to sensible automatic merit options NOW.
https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships
Looks like it would cost you 12k a year with a big merit scholarship. @interapp
@interapp Also you could try for a full ride at Berea but you have to apply early in July. Be the first from your country. One student per country is accepted.
Huntsville - second largest research and technology park in the nation. Ranks as one of the top 25 most educated cities in the nation. In the top of the nation’s high tech hotspots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsville,_Alabama
I haven’t seen any college, which currently provides full-merit. UAH says 15th of December was deadline.
Berea is not an option for me, they have rejected every applicant from my country, even those who ended up in Ivies and other top-schools.
@gearmom
@interapp Dec 15 is NOT the deadline. I will post.
@interapp It’s August 17th. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/uah-1055/applying You said that you could afford up to 20k a year. UAH has CS and engineering.
Update: The deadline is June 15th for international students. You could apply now. You’d have a full tuition scholarship. Your first year cost would be 12kish. Live one year on campus and then three much less expensively off campus. You’d have a truly useful degree with internship possibilities in one of the top tech areas in the US. I bet you could get your costs down to 9K for sophomore to senior years.
They ask for affidavit of financial support for at least one year, showing that I have sufficient funds to pay for tuition and cost .-. I might have understood their web-site wrong, but if that’s a requirement, I can’t provide that.
@gearmom
@interapp Can you work in the US and save money? That is a good school for tech fields in the US.
What are your parents expecting for a college package?
But I am really not in rush to attend college; so, I would prefer to take a gap year and apply next to colleges, which I want to attend.
@gearmom as an international student, I am not able to work here
Up to 20K, as I have already mentioned. But if I can get into schools which meet full need, my parents will not pay almost anything based on their income.
@interapp You could always try more lottery options next year in the US. If you have good options in Europe that you would prefer and for some reason your parents are not comfortable with a tech school like UAH but a UAH CS/engineering degree would set up for great employment opportunities and grad school.
I would probably stick to gap year, as I want to study in US.
So, if you have any advice on that, I would be really thankful.
What can I improve ? or do in my gap year to improve my chances?
Which colleges would be best to apply? @gearmom
@interapp Try the SAT again if you are still in school. Where are you targeting next year? Just LACs?
What can your parents really afford? What are they interested in paying for and why?
One of my first professors went to the University of Kentucky as an international then onto Stanford. There is not one type of school that will get you into top programs.